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Padres' Raffy Lopez: Inks deal with Padres

by RotoWire Staff | RotoWire

Lopez signed a minor-league contract with the Padres on Wednesday, according to his personal Twitter account.

Lopez will join his fifth organization in four years after he was outrighted from the Blue Jays' 40-man roster following the 2017 campaign. He offers some intriguing pop as a catcher, as he swatted 16 homers across 73 games between Double-A New Hampshire and Triple-A Buffalo while adding another four in 24 games with the big club. He'll have to improve his defense if he wants to make an impact behind the dish at the majors, however, as he caught just one of 17 attempted base stealers with Toronto last season. Lopez should get a chance to compete for a reserve spot on the Opening Day roster.

Lopez was outrighted from the 40-man roster Monday, Mike Wilner of Sportsnet 590 The Fan reports.

Lopez was a liability defensively, as he threw out just one of 17 runners on stolen-base attempts. Additionally, he didn't provide much on offense. Over 24 games he slashed .222/.306/.463 while striking out 21 times across 62 plate appearances.

Lopez failed to gunned down any of the Yankees four base stealers on Friday, and he's now caught just one of 17 attempted runners, The Associated Press reports.

His .226 batting average aside, Lopez has been exposed in a major way since joining the big-league club in August. The catcher's inability to stop opponents from running wild on the bases will surely have a negative impact on the 29-year-old's standing with the organization heading into next season.

The left-hand-hitting catcher owns a dismal .222 batting average since joining the club in August. However, Lopez has rapped out a decent .771 OPS thanks to three home runs through 45 at-bats. With the Jays out of playoff contention, the club seems interested in keeping Lopez in the mix to see what he might be able to bring to the table in 2018.

Lopez is out of the lineup Tuesday against the Rays, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports.

With three catchers above him on the depth chart on the disabled list with injuries, Lopez has settled in as the team's top backstop. However, after appearing in each of the past three games, Lopez will get a breather Tuesday, affording Michael Ohlman a turn behind the plate.